Gaps in Capacity for Respiratory Care in Developing Countries. Nigeria as a Case Study

There are unmet needs for respiratory medical care in developing countries. We sought to evaluate the quality and capacity for respiratory care in low- and lower-middle-income countries, using Nigeria as a case study. We obtained details of the respiratory practice of consultants and senior residents (fellows) in respiratory medicine in Nigeria via a semistructured questionnaire administered to physician attendees at the 2013 National Congress of the Nigerian Thoracic Society. Out of 76 society-registered members, 48 attended the congress, 40 completed the questionnaire, and 35 provided complete data (73% adjusted response rate). Respondents provided information on the process and costs of respiratory medicine training and facility, equipment, and supply capacities at the institutions they represented. Approximately 83% reported working at a tertiary level (teaching) hospital; 91% reported capacity for sputum smear analysis for acid alcohol-fast bacilli, 37% for GeneXpert test cartridges, and 20% for BACTEC liquid sputum culture. Only 34% of respondents could perform full spirometry on patients, and none had the capacity for performing a methacholine challenge test or for measuring the diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide. We estimated the proportion of registered respiratory physicians to the national population at 1 per 2.3 million individuals. Thirteen states with an estimated combined population of 57.7 million offer no specialist respiratory services. Barriers to development of this capacity include the high cost of training. We conclude that substantial gaps exist in the capacity and quality of respiratory care in Nigeria, a pattern that probably mirrors most of sub-Saharan Africa and other countries of similar economic status. Health policy makers should address these gaps systematically.